General: Perennial herb from a short, branched woody base or rhizome; stems erect, solitary or few, branched above, densely woolly-hairy, 15-60 cm tall.
Leaves: Basal leaves erect to ascending, narrowly spoon-shaped to oblanceolate, stalked, 5-20 cm long, 6-20 mm wide, densely woolly-hairy, obscurely to strongly 3-5 nerved; stem leaves similar, becoming unstalked, linear and reduced upwards.
Fruits: Achenes elliptic, 1.0-1.5 mm long, glabrous; female pappus white with hairlike bristles, 7-10 mm tall; the male pappus hairs club-shaped at the tips, 4-6 mm long.
Notes: Two varieties occur in BC. Although Bayer (1993) has recognized var. anaphaloides as a separate species, the minor differences in involucral bract color do not appear to warrant specific status.
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
Mesic meadows, grasslands, shrublands and forest openings in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; frequent throughout BC, except rare on the coast; N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF and S to UT and NV.
